Apple’s Time Capsule Recovery

Wondering if it’s possible to recover files directly from Apple’s Time Capsules (i.e. when they are powered, but not installed or connected to Mac)?

We have bad news in this case. It’s not possible. You should remove the hard disk from your Time Capsule first and then connect this drive to your Mac through a compatible dock station.

Recover deleted files from the Time Capsule drive (Disk Drill method)

1. Power off the Time Capsule and unplug it.
2. Remove the internal hard drive from the Time Capsule (if you’re not comfortable opening it, a repair shop or data recovery lab can do this).
3. Connect the drive to your Mac using a SATA-to-USB dock/enclosure.
4. In Disk Drill, create a byte-to-byte backup (disk image) first if the drive is acting unstable (slow, dropping connection, clicking, etc.). Scanning an image is safer than repeatedly stressing failing hardware.
5. Scan the drive or the disk image, preview results, and recover files to a different drive (never recover back onto the same source disk).

Why this works: your Mac sees the drive as a real, local storage device, so recovery tools can analyze file system structures and (when possible) search for deleted data.